Two way radios allow users the ability to wirelessly communicate with others on a small network. Most two way radios use various channels or frequencies for communication. Monitoring of more than one channel allows a user to communicate with a plurality of people for a variety of purposes. In a security environment, for instance, channel 1 may be used to communicate about and monitor emergency conditions. Channel 2 may be used to communicate about and monitor major security threats. Channel 3 may be used to communicate about and monitor minor security threats. A user may monitor all three channels by using a two way radio having a scanning mode. However, the user is limited to transmitting on the most recently scanned channel. If the user fails to transmit within a short predetermined period of time, the two way radio may have scanned to a new channel. The user then has to manually select the channel wasting time and eliminating the ability to scan other channels during the selection process.
What is needed is a two way radio that allows a user to listen to more than one channel and transmit on a selected channel or predetermined channel in a convenient manner.